Located in Vienna's Innere Stadt at Palais Ferstel on Herrengasse 14, Cafe Central stands out from the street with its grand facade. Inside it is like stepping into a time machine; the high ceilings are in keeping with the cafe's general magnificence and the pianist playing in the centre of the room, it feels like somewhere from another century. The smiling waiter (who was polite enough not to laugh at our appalling German), the peacefully cheerful piano music and the two Aperol Spritz were just what the doctor ordered on our first night in Vienna.
It's charmingly archaic feel made it far from difficult to imagine what it would have been like at its opening in 1876, when the cafe and restaurant drew in much of the Viennese intellectual scene. In 1913, many of Europe's political elite became patrons of the establishment, including Tito and Hitler as well as regulars, Trotsky and Lenin.
It wasn't just the politicians that appreciated Cafe Central's relaxed and welcoming atmosphere, many famous writers did too, including Sigmund Freud, Robert Musil and Friedrich Torberg.
Critic and journalist Friedrich Torberg, known largely for his satirical writings, both fiction and non-fiction. Torberg wrote in both Vienna and Prague but was forced to emigrate to France in 1938 due to his Jewish heritage and, later, to the United States where he worked for Time magazine and as a scriptwriter. He later returned to Vienna in 1951.
Austrian writer Robert Musil's novel, The Man Without Qualities (Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften), although unfinished at the time of his death, later became regarded one of the most important modernist novels. The novel is described as 'a story of ideas' and takes place in the final days of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Despite it being considered so important, the very long novel is considered difficult to read and has not been widely read.
Well-known in Vienna, this place isn't hard to find so do pop in if you get the chance for breakfast or a drink! They do dinner as well should you have a budget of a few more euros than me!
Cafe Central
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